Mountain Village Covenant Church - Pastor Carl Elwood
Brief History
Mountain Village is on the north bank of the Yukon River, approximately 20 miles west of St. Mary's and 470 milesn orthwest of Anchorage. It is at the foot of the 500' Azachorok Mountain, the first mountain encountered by those traveling up the Yukon. It lies at approximately 62 degrees 05' N Latitude, 163 degrees 43' W Longitude (Sec. 14, T023N, R079W, Seward Mereidan). The community is located in the Bethel Recording District. The area encompasses 4 sq. miles of land and 1 sq. miles of water.
Mountain Village was a summer fish camp until the opening of a general store in 1908. This prompted residents of Liberty Landing and Johnny's Place to immigrate. A Covenant Church missionary school was also built in that same year. A post office was established in 1923, followed by a salmon saltery in 1956 and a cannery in 1964. All three have since ceased operating. Mountain Village became a regional education center in 1976 when it was selected as headquarters for the Lower Yukon School District.
Pastor Profile
Pastor Carl Elwood was born in 1949 at Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois. He was raised in a Lutheran Church, but didn't come to a full relationship with Jesus Christ until age 27. Just two years earlier, he received his BA from the University of Minnesota-Duluth in 1974. He and Marcia married that year and were later blessed with three children: Paul, Linnea, and Erik. Carl returned to school in 1987 to obtain his MDIV from North Park Theological Seminary and was ordained in 1989 at the Evangelical Covenant Church of Tacoma Washington. Their family first served in Elim in the late 80's. Carl and Marcia returned to Alaska in May 2002 as empty nesters, leaving five grandchildren behind in Michigan. Marcia is a school teacher with the local school district in Mountain Village.
